Sternberg in 1898 and Reed in 1902 first described the histopathology of Hodgkin lymphoma precisely.

Reed in particular described the multinucleated giant cells which would be later known as "Reed- Sternberg cells." She was certain that this was not an unusual form of TB - which was the commonly held belief at the time.

Improvements in radiotherapy techniques lead to the first cures of early stage disease.

In the 1940s, there was continued work on mustard gases. Used as weapons in the first world war, they had been found to have a significant lymphocytolytic effects.

Experimental studies showed an advantage to using a combination of non-cross resistant anti-neoplastic agents (also with toxicities that didn't overlap).